The LA Lakers' top brass met Wednesday night to discuss strategy ahead of the NBA trade deadline. The first move to come out of that meeting: trading guard Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors for guards MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore.

The trade is pending NBA approval, The Associated Press reported.

The Los Angeles Times first reported Blake had been traded. Yahoo! Sports reported that Brooks and Bazemore were in the deal.

Golden State wasted no time welcoming Blake to the organization, complete with this digitally altered image:

Word of the Blake trade started to spread just before the Warriors played in Sacramento and the Lakers hosted Houston in Los Angeles.

The trade gives Golden State a savvy veteran off the bench without sacrificing any of its core players or moving into the league's luxury tax.

"We think this just bolsters the bench and gives us some more options, some more weapons and a player when you give him the ball you know you can trust him," Warriors general manager Bob Myers said during intermission in Sacramento. "We just think it was a chance to improve our roster and that was our justification."

Blake, who is making $4 million in the final year of his contract, averaged 9.5 points and 7.6 assists while starting all 27 games he played for the injury-depleted Lakers this season. The Warriors are counting on the 33-year-old veteran to bolster a bench that has been searching for a proven ball-handler since Jarrett Jack left for Cleveland in free agency last summer.

The Warriors acquired Jordan Crawford and Brooks from Boston in a three-team trade on Jan. 15. Golden State sent struggling backup Toney Douglas to Miami in that deal.

Crawford has been, at times, a prolific scorer but is still learning how to be a better distributor and playmaker on a Warriors team that has plenty of shooters. He entered Wednesday averaging 6.3 points and 2.2 assists in his first 13 games with the Warriors after starting for the Celtics while Rajon Rondo was injured.

Brooks appeared in just seven games with the Warriors and never caught on in Mark Jackson's rotation. Bazemore, best known for his animated cheering on Golden State's bench, also struggled in limited action the past two seasons.

Both had split time with the team's NBA Development League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, but should get more of an opportunity with the rebuilding Lakers.